LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 927 544 9 



T 171 
.R41 

1825 

Copy 1 



CONSTITUTION AND LAWS 



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IN TROY, NEW- YORK 



ADOPTED BY THE 



March 11, 1S25. 



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< PRINTED BY TUTTLE AND RICHARDS. 

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OFFICERS OF THE SCHOOL. / 



SAMUEL BLATCHFORD, D. D. of Lansingburgh, 

PRESIDENT. 

O. L. HOLLEY, Esquire, of Troy, 

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT. 

Dr. T. R. BECK, of Albany, 

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT. 



TRUSTEES FOR LANSINGBURGH. 

Rev. SAMUEL BLATCHFORD, D. D. 
ELIAS PARMELEE, Esq. 

TRUSTEES FOR WATERFORD. 

Hon. JOHN CRAMER, State Senator. 
GUERT VAN SCHOONHOVEN, Esq. 

TRUSTEES FOR ALBANY. 

Hon. SIMEON DE WITT, Surveyor-General. 
Dr. T. R. BECK, Prof. Western Medical College. 

TRUSTEES FOR TROY. 

Hon. JOHN D. DICKINSON^ Esq. 
Hon. RICHARD P. HART, Esq. 



AMOS EATON, Esq. of Troy, 

Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, and Lecturer on 

Geology, Land Surveying, &c. 

Dr. LEWIS C. BECK, of Albany, 

Professor of Botany, Mineralogy and Zoology. 

■ ■»■ ^- <— ■ 

Mr. H. N. LOCKWOOD, of Troy, Treasurer. 

Dr. MOSES HALE, of Troy, Secretary. 

Assistants are elected temporarily by the President and Pro- 
fessor*, 



ws&immws 



OF 



RENSSELAER SCHOOL, 

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees ap- 
pointed in the letter inserted below, on the eleventh 
day of March, 1825, at the building usually called 
the Old Bank Place, near the sloop lock, at the 
north end of the city of Troy, in the state of New- 
York, it was resolved : — 

First. That the letter addressed by the Honora- 
ble Stephen Van Rensselaer, to the Rev. Samuel 
Blatchford, D. D. dated at Albany, Nov. 5, 1824, 
and another dated at Washington, Feb. 11, 1825, 
be the Constitution of the School therein mention- 
ed, for the government of all the future by-laws 
and transactions of said board of trustees, and of 
all other persons concerned in said school. And 
that all alterations of the rules and orders contain- 
ed in the letters, and every other exercise of the 
powers and duties of the board of trustees shall be 
in accordance with the object of the school, as 
set forth in said letters. 

Second. That the school mentioned in said letters 
shall be known and called by the name, Rensselaer 
School, and the board of trustees shall be known 



and called by the name and title of the President 
and Trustees of Rensselaer School, and shall do all 
their legal acts and transact all business in that 
name. 



Copies of the letters before referred to, which are adopted 
as the Constitution of Rensselaer School. 

TO THE REV. DR. BLATCHFORD, OF LANSINGBUBGH. 

Dear Sir — I have established a school at the 
north end of Troy, in Rensselaer county, in the 
building usually called the Old Bank Place, for the 
purpose of instructing persons, who may choose to 
apply themselves, in the application of science to the 
common purposes of life. My principal object is, to 
qualify teachers for instructing the sons and daugh- 
ters of Farmers and Mechanics, by lectures or oth- 
erwise, in the application of experimental chemistry, 
philosophy, and natural history, to agriculture, do- 
mestic economy, the arts and manufactures. From 
the trials which have been made by persons in my 
employment at Utica, Whitesborough, Rome, Au- 
burn and Geneva, during the last summer, I am in- 
clined to believe, that competent instructors may be 
produced in the school at Troy, who will be highly 
useful to community in the diffusion of a very useful 
kind of knowledge, with its application to the busi- 
ness of living. Apparatus for the necessary experi- 
ments has been so much simplified, and specimens 
in natural history have become subjects of such 
easy attainment, that but a small sum is now re- 



quired as an out-fit for an instructor in the proposed 
branches of science. Consequently, every school 
district may have the benefit of such a course of 
instruction about once in two or three years, as soon 
as we can furnish a sufficient number of teachers. 
I prefer this plan to the endowment of a single pub- 
lic institution, for the resort of those only, whose 
parents are able and willing to send their children 
from home, or to enter them for several years upon 
the Fellenberg plan. It seems to comport better 
with the habits of our citizens and the genius of our 
government, to place the advantages of useful im- 
provement, equally within the reach of all. 

Whether my expectations will ever be realized or 
not, I am willing to hazard the necessary expense 
of making the trial. Having procured a suitable 
building, advantageously located among farmers and 
mechanics, and having furnished funds, which are 
deemed sufficient by my agent in this undertaking, 
for procuring the necessary apparatus, &c. it now 
remains to establish a system of organization, a- 
dapted to the object. You will excuse me, if I at- 
tach too much consequence to the undertaking. 
But it appears to me, that a board of trustees to de- 
cide upon the manner of granting certificates of 
qualifications, to regulate the government of stu- 
dents, &c. is essential. I therefore take the liberty 
to appoint you a Member, and President of a Board 
of Trustees for this purpose. I appoint the follow- 
ing gentlemen Trustees of the same board. The 
Rev. Dr. Blatchford and Elias Parmelee, of Lansing- 
burgh; Guert Van Schoonhoven and John Cramer, 
Esqrs, of Waterford; SimtonDe Witt said T.Romeyn 



Heck, of Albany ; John D. Dickinson and Jedediah 
Tract/, of Troy. And I appoint 0. L. Holley, Esq. 
of Troy, and T. R. Beck, of Albany, First and Se- 
cond Vice-Presidents of said Board. 

As a few regulations are immediately necessary, 
in order to present the school to the public, it seems 
necessary that I should make the following orders, 
subject to be altered by the Trustees, after the end 
of the first term. 

Order 1. The Board of Trustees is to meet at 
times and places to be notified by the President, or 
by one of the Vice-Presidents, in the absence or 
disability of the President. One half of the mem- 
bers of the board are to form a quorum for doing 
business. A majority of the members present may 
fill any vacancy which happens in the board ; so 
that there may be two members resident in Troy, 
two in Lansingburgh, two in Waterford, and two in 
Albany. The powers and duties of the Trustees to 
be such as those exercised by all similar boards — 
the object of the school being always kept in view. 

Order 2. I appoint Dr. Moses Hole, of Troy, Secre- 
tary, and Mr. H. N. Loekwood, Treasurer. 

Order 3. I appoint Amos Eaton, of Troy, Professor 
of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy, and 
Lecturer on Geology, Land surveying, and the laws 
regulating town officers and jurors. This office to 
be denominated the senior professorship. 

Order 4. I appoint Lewis C. Beck, of Albany, Pro- 



lessor of Mineralogy, Botany and Zoology, and lec- 
turer on the social duties peculiar to Farmers and 
Mechanics. This office to be denominated the jun- 
ior professorship. 

Order 5. The first term is to commence on the 
first Monday in January next, and to continue fifteen 
weeks. For admission to the course, including 
the use of the library and reading room, each stu- 
dent must pay twenty-five dollars to the treasurer, 
or give him satisfactory assurances that it will be 
paid in one year. In addition to this, each section 
of students must pay for the chemical substances 
they consume, and the damage they do to appara- 
tus. 

Order 6. All the pay thus received by the treas- 
urer, or for parts of courses of instruction, is to be 
paid over to said professors as the reward of their 
services. 

Order 7. In giving the course on Chemistry, the 
students are to be divided into sections, not exceed- 
ing five in each section. These are not to be taught 
by seeing experiments and hearing lectures, accord- 
ing to the usual method. But they are to lecture and 
experiment by turns, under the immediate direction 
of a professor or a competent assistant. Thus, by a 
term of labor, like apprentices to a trade, they are 
to become operative chemists. 

Order 8. At the close of the term, each student 
is to give sufficient tests of his skill and science be- 
fore examiners, to be appointed by myself, or by the 
2 



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10 

trustees if I do not appoint. The examination is 
not to be conducted by question and answer; but 
the qualifications of students are to be estimated by 
the facility with which they perform experiments and 
give the rationale ; and certificates or diplomas are 
to be awarded accordingly. 

Order 9. One librarian, or more, to be appointed 
by the professors, will be keeper of the reading 
room. All who attend at the reading room, are to 
respect and obey the orders of the librarian, in re- 
gard to the library and conduct while in the room. 

Order 10. Any student who shall be guilty of dis- 
orderly or ungentlemanly conduct, is to be tried and 
punished by the president, or vice-president, and 
two trustees. The punishment may extend to ex- 
pulsion and forfeiture of the school privileges, with- 
out a release from the payment of fees. But a stu- 
dent may appeal from such decision to the board of 
trustees. 

This instrument, or a copy of it, is to be read to 
each student before he becomes a member of the 
school ; and he is to be made to understand that his 
matriculation is to be considered as an assent to 
these regulations. 

STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER. 
Albany, Nov. 5, 1824. 



11 



Washington, Feb. 11, 1825. 
Dear Sir — I offer my acknowledgments for the 
mterest you have taken in promoting the school 
over which you preside. I have inclosed a draft, 
hastily drawn up, of By-Laws, for the government 
of the school, which I beg to submit to yourself, and 
the gentlemen associated with you, for considera- 
tion and amendment. I flatter myself that the school 
will succeed, and the advantages I anticipated will 
be realized. 

With respect, yours sincerely, 

S. V. RENSSELAER. 



[enclosed draft.] 

1. That there be two terms in each year, of 12 
or 15 weeks each, to be called the summer term, and 
winter term. The summer term to commence in 
May ; the winter term to commence in January — say 
the last of May and January. 

2. That during the summer term the students 
shall be taught the elementary principles of the 
science of chemistry, experimental philosophy, nat- 
ural history, land surveying, &c. with their applica- 
tion to agriculture, manufactures, and the arts. 

3. That, with the consent of the proprietors, a 
number of well cultivated farms and work-shops in 
the vicinity of the school, be entered on the records 



12 

of the school, as places of scholastic exercise for 
students, where the application of the sciences may 
be most conveniently taught. 

4. That during the winter term students be exer- 
cised in giving lectures, by turns, on all the branches 
taught in the summer term, under the direction of 
the professors, or their assistants, in order to qualify 
them for giving instruction in those branches. And 
that a course of evening lectures be given in the 
winter term, by the professors, so as to embrace ele- 
mentary views of the whole course of instruction 
given at the school. 

5. That an annual commencement be held in A- 
pril, at the close of the winter term, for conferring 
diplomas on those found qualified. 



13 



1TSMLAWS 



OF 



RENSSELAER SCHOOL, 



The Board of Trustees, considering the pre- 
ceding communications as forming the Constitution, 
proceed to enact some necessary by-laws, to go into 
operation at the close of the present term, to wit : 
on and after the nineteenth day of April next. 

Article 1. A course of instruction shall be given 
at said school annually, which shall be divided into 
two terms of fifteen weeks to each. The first term, 
to be called the summer term, shall commence an- 
nually on the third Wednesday in May, and continue 
fifteen weeks ; and the second term, to be called 
the winter term, on the third Wednesday in Janua- 
ry next ensuing, and continue till the last Wednes- 
day in April. 

Article 2. A school commencement shall be held 
on the last Wednesday in April annually. Certifi- 
cates or diplomas shall be awarded and conferred, 
on the day of commencement, agreeable to the spirit 
and intent of the constitution. 

Article 3. No person shall be admitted as a mem- 
ber of the annual class, under the age of fourteen 



14 

years ; but persons may attend on the conditions 
presented in the next article, at and above the age 
of ten years. 

Article 4. For admission as a member of the an- 
nual class, the candidates must be well versed in 
reading, writing, common arithmetic, and English 
grammar. It is very desirable, though it will not 
be demanded, that he should have a knowledge of 
the Latin language ; and he would be much better 
prepared if he should first receive a collegiate edu- 
cation. Besides the members of the annual class, 
persons will be admitted as temporary students. Such 
students will attend lectures and recitations, but 
will not be exercised in the manipulations of ex- 
periments. They will not receive the commence- 
ment diplomas, but may have certificates of attend- 
ance on the lectures. Temporary students will pay 
half the fees of annual students, reckoning the time 
from their entering the school to their departure. 

Article 5. Every person, after receiving the com- 
mencement degree, shall ever after remain perpetu- 
al member of Rensselaer School, until he shall re- 
sign or be expelled for misconduct, and shall be en- 
titled to the right of attending lectures and the read- 
ing room free of all charges. And the trustees shall 
have a right, at any time, to call upon him, by letter 
or otherwise, whether his residence shall be in the 
United States or in a foreign conntry, and demand 
of him an explanation of whatever they deem im- 
moral or dishonorable conduct. On his neglecting 
or refusing to exonerate himself from the charges, he 



15 

shall be expelled. It shall be the duty of every 
person while a member, to give notice to the trus- 
tees, at least once in three years, how he is employ- 
ed, and what success has attended his scientific la- 
bors, and what scientific discoveries he has made. 
And it shall be the duty of the trustees to aid every 
worthy industrious member in procuring him merit- 
ed patronage. 

Article 6. The exercises of the members of the 
annual class shall be as follows : — During the sum- 
mer term, the students shall attend courses of lec- 
tures on chemistry, on experimental philosophy, in- 
cluding astronomy, on so much mathematics as is 
necessary for land surveying, on geology, mineralo- 
gy, botany, and zoology. During these lectures 
each student shall examine specimens and operate 
with his own hands, so far as to become familiar with 
every important subject of natural history, and eve- 
ry manipulation ; but he will not give lectures him- 
self before the winter term. He will be conducted 
by a professor or an assistant, at stated periods, to 
the farms attached to the schools, and be directed 
to keep a journal of the progress of vegetation un- 
der the hands of the agriculturist, during the sum- 
mer term ; and particularly to analyze all the kinds 
of soil and manures, used by the cultivators of the 
school farms, with a view to become acquainted 
with the causes of success and of failure. He will 
also be conducted to all the manufactories and work- 
shops connected with the school, and be taught the 
application of science to all the most important ope- 
rations of the artist. 



16 

Article 7. During the winter term, each student 
will be employed in giving experimental and demon- 
strative lectures, on the subjects of his summer 
course of instruction ; agreeable to the plan set forth 
in the constitution. He will also hear an entire 
course of lectures on each subject — also on the laws 
regulating town officers and jurors, and on the so- 
cial duties peculiar to farmers and mechanics. It 
will be the duty of the professors so to conduct the 
winter course, as to enable the diligent student to 
prepare himself for giving instruction on all the 
branches taught in the school, by lectures, experi- 
ments, and specimens ; whether his services be re- 
quired before a popular audience, or academic stu- 
dents, or in aid of other schools, which it is hoped 
may be formed on a similar plan for improvement. 

Article 8. As the health of both body and mind re- 
quires considerable recreation, the following em- 
ployments shall be the substitutes for those adopted 
at other schools. In the summer term the students 
shall be exercised by sections, under the direction 
of the teachers, in the art of inoculating and engraft- 
ing trees, transplanting by roots, cutting and layers, 
pruning trees, surveying farms, calculating heights 
and distances, measuring corded wood, scantling 
and boards, and the solid contents of timber, guag- 
ing casks, taking measures, and calculating the ve- 
locity and pressure of rivers, water race-ways, ac- 
queducts, &c. collecting and preserving plants and 
minerals, and in such other laborious exercises as 
shall comport with the object of the school. 

In the winter term the students shall be exercised 



17 

by sections, at the work-shop in the school building, 
in the use of tools, to qualify them for making re- 
pairs and performing small jobs, when a professional 
artist is not at hand. By such exercises in the work- 
shop it is not intended that students shall be quali- 
fied for exercising any of the mechanical arts ; but 
for avoiding the delay and expense of calling a dis- 
tant mechanic to accomplish a purpose which does 
not require a set of tools appertaining to any trade. 
Besides it is well known, that by a little labor in the 
work-shop, young persons acquire a taste for the 
mechanical arts, which will ever after inspire cor- 
rect views on such subjects. It appears from the 
first letter of the patron of this institution, that he 
does not approve of entering young persons in the 
school for a number of years sufficient for learning 
a trade, or for becoming an expert laborer in the 
field. These qualifications he thinks are most ad- 
vantageously acquired in the shop of a real artist, 
or in the service of a loboring farmer. But he 
wishes him to be instructed " in the application of 
science to the common purposes of life," by a 
course of experimental exercises, which cannot be 
obtained in the workshop or in the field. Having 
thus acquired a practical knowledge of the elemen- 
tary basis of every calling, with its dependance on 
all others, he will be qualified for entering the work- 
shop of a particular artisan, or for the labors of a 
particular farm, or for studying a learned profession, 
which requires a general knowledge of every known 
pursuit. 

Article 9. Each member of the annual class sJiall 
3, 



/ 



16 

pay the treasurer, or secure to be paid in one year, 
fifteen dollars for each term, on receiving his ticket 
of admission from the treasurer. No student shall 
be received into the annual class for less than the 
whole annual course. Temporary students may be 
received for any portion of either term at half the 
proportional fees of the annual students. Very 
young persons ought to attend one whole course as 
temporary students, and one course as annual stu- 
dents ; but this will not be demanded. 

Article 10. The annual examination shall begin so 
many days before the day of commencement as to 
leave one day for every five students who are to be 
examined. The examination shall be public ; each 
student giving satisfactory tests of his qualifications 
by short experimental lectures. Each student, who 
is found sufficiently dexterous as an experimenter, 
and well qualified for giving rationale, and making 
applications of the sciences to the useful purposes 
of life, will receive a diploma, to be called the Rens- 
selaer Degree, for which he shall pay four dollars. 
This diploma shall set forth his having attended an 
annual course, and his qualifications in the particu- 
lar application of the sciences to agriculture, do- 
mestic economy, manufactures and the arts. Also, 
that he has given sufficient evidence of those quali- 
fications, by a course of experimental lectures be- 
fore the school. Whereupon he will be presented 
to the world as competent to give instruction, or to 
perform any other duty, or enter upon any employ- 
ment wherein such qualifications are required. But 
this degree shall not be conferred upon any person, 



19 

until he shall have arrived at the age of sixteen 
years. The examination will be strict and severe ; 
and those who are not found to be qualified, but are 
sufficiently studious, may remain in the school until 
qualified, without paying any additional fees. 

Article 11. A list of farms and work-shops, as di- 
rected in the constitution, to be entered on the re- 
cords of the school, by the consent of the proprie- 
tors, as places of scholastic exercise, shall be made 
by the professors, and presented to the president, 
before the third Wednesday in May next. And it 
shall be the duty of the president, with the consent 
of two other trustees, to order such of them to be 
entered on the records as may be deemed expedi- 
ent ; and to order a list thereof to be published in 
one newspaper in Waterford, Lansingburgh, Troy 
and Albany. 

Article 12. In addition to the meetings of the 
board of trustees, to be notified by the president as 
ordered in the constitution, there shall be an annu- 
al meeting of said board at the school on the day 
of commencement, to wit : on the last Wednesday 
in April, at ten o'clock in the morning. 

Article 1 3. The rules and by-laws heretofore made 
by this board, having been intended for the tempo- 
rary government of the school in its incipient state, 
are to be considered as void and of no further effect, 
after the nineteenth day of April next. 

Article 14. All further rules, necessary for the in- 



20 

Vernal government of the school, may be made, tem- 
porarily, by the faculty of said school, to remain in 
force during the pleasure of the board of trustees. 
The faculty consists of the President and Profes- 
sors ; whose orders shall be strictly obeyed by the 
students. It shall be the duty of the faculty to ap- 
point, from among the students, a suitable number 
of assistants, and to change them from time to time, 
so that each studious and orderly student shall be- 
come assistant once or more during the course ; and 
for the time being eaeh assistant shall be respected 
by the students of his sections. The faculty are also 
authorised to appoint a school steward, with such 
privileges and duties as may be deemed expedient. 

By Order of the Board. 

S. BLATCHFORD, President 
Moses Hale, Secretary. 



•_>1 



Students ought to be at the school punctually 
on the third Wednesday in May ; for the practical 
exercises will commence without delay. A consid- 
erable number of students may be furnished with 
plain board and lodging, by the school-steward, at 
One Dollar and Fifty Cents per week ; and any num- 
ber may be boarded and lodged within a very short 
distance of the school, at One Dollar and Seventy- 
Five Cents per week. 

No expense will be required for rooms. The stu- 
dents will have the privilege of resorting to a spa- 
cious, airy room, which is denominated the Common 
Reading Room — here they will assemble by sections 
during those short intervals which will occur be- 
tween the exercises. In this room is placed a very 
ample Scientific Library, to which the members of the 
institution will have free access. Suitable conven- 
iences are also provided for the taking of notes, and 
for reference to the very best authorities. 

Besides the Library, the reading room is furnish- 
ed with a case of Chemical Principles, together with 
the principal compounds, arranged according to the 
Text-Book for chemical lectures. 



22 

A case of select apparatus is also provided, sufficient 
for the illustration of the principles of Experimental 
Philosophy, and for practical Mathematics. 

This room is, moreover, furnished with Geologi- 
cal and other necessary maps, and the most perfect 
suit of American Geological specimens, hitherto col- 
lected. There is likewise an extensive collection 
of plants, and the most necessary specimens in 
Zoology. 

Students are taught to perform all experiments 
with the most particular regard to neatness and 
economy ; using small, light apparatus, and operat- 
ing with small quantities of matter, excepting where 
the nature of the experiment requires larger quan- 
tities. Of the feasibility and great excellence of 
the plan of this school, and the effective character 
of the instructions given by the Professors, the 
trustees have recently had a very gratifying proof, 
by the exhibitions of several students. After only 
seven weeks instruction, tbey acquitted themselves 
in a very satisfactory manner, both as to their know- 
ledge of the rationale of the propositions respec- 
tively assigned to them, and the neatness and facili- 
ty with which they gave the experimental illus- 
trations. 



23 



It will be expected that the students provide for 
themselves the following Text-Books, which are 
read in the school. 

Chemical Instructor, 

Webster's Philosophy, 

Cuvier's Zoological Classification, 

Geology, 

Manual of Botany, 

Mineralogical Syllabus. 



The necessary expenses for a whole annual course 
are the following : 



Board, (30 weeks,) at g 1,50 


845 


Instruction, and diploma fees, 


34 


Washing, (about) 


8 


Text-Books, (about) 


5 


Stationary, - 


2 


Proportion of fuel and lights, 


2 



Total, g96 

S. BLATCHFORD, President 

of the Board of Trustees. 
March 14. 1825. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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